The Hammer of Thor
by Jedi Sapphire
Summary: Sam and Dean find themselves in a mysterious wintry wasteland and face some particularly bloodthirsty enemies. All because Dean couldn't leave those runes alone when he saw them. Spoilers up to 8.02, "What's Up, Tiger Mommy?"
1. Bifröst

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

**Author's Note: **Once upon a time (right after _What's Up, Tiger Mommy?_) SandyDee84 said to me, "As much as we would love a dream sequence where Sam and Thor battle the evil Gabriel-as-Loki, it's probably never going to happen (although if you gave the boys a fever or enough alcohol, it might work)."

Now you _know _I couldn't let that pass. So this one's for you. Of course there are a couple of caveats: No alcohol. No fever. And, because this is me, Gabriel isn't outright evil. But I hope this fits the bill anyway. *g*

Thanks to Cheryl for being an awesome beta.

**Summary: **Sam and Dean find themselves in a mysterious wintry wasteland and face some particularly bloodthirsty enemies. All because Dean couldn't leave those runes alone when he saw them. Spoilers up to 8.02, _What's Up, Tiger Mommy?_

* * *

**The Hammer of Thor**

**Chapter I: Bifröst**

In retrospect, I shouldn't have gone anywhere near the damn runes.

You'd think I'd've learnt that by now – in our line of work, whenever there's a thing that you can't identify, you can bet your life that nothing good is going to come of touching it. What you _should _do is photograph it and take it to Geekboy for identification.

It started right after I'd read Kevin's note.

Sam, as usual, tried to make me feel better about the whole thing, but even his best puppy-dog eyes couldn't make me forget what I'd done. There was a part of me that just wanted to _tell _him and be done with it. After all, he knew I'd tortured souls in Hell. How much worse could it get?

There was another part of me saying _It could get a whole damn lot worse. At least he seems to like you right now_. And that was the part I listened to.

Another mistake, I guess. And one we've made so many times you'd _think _we would have learnt. But apparently Winchesters go through life without learning a damn thing except how to die for each other.

Anyway, I nodded at Sam, shoved the note in my pocket, and led the way out. Sam grabbed the hammer as we went.

"We really need that?" I asked.

"Mjölnir, Dean. And apparently it kills supernatural things. It might be useful."

"Mole-what?"

"Mjölnir," Sam repeated, in that _how-could-you-possibly-not-know-this_ voice. I grinned. I'd missed that voice. I'd missed the long-suffering tone, the rolled eyes, the half-amused, half-exasperated not-so-little brother. "The hammer of Thor."

"Oh, Chris Hemsworth."

"Thor," Sam repeated, bitchfacing at me. "Marvel comics has nothing to do with it."

"Whatever, dude. I like Batman better anyway. You know, you look like that dude in the movie. Long hair and everything. You sure you didn't get possessed and act in –"

"_No_, Dean."

"I'm just saying. Because, Sammy, the girly hair and that blue steel look you had going on when Balthazar put us in TV-land? You were made to be a movie star."

"_Dean!_"

I laughed at Sam's furious expression.

That was when I noticed the runes carved into the wall. I went closer for a better look. They were dripping – not blood, though; it was something black. And of _course _I should have done _anything _rather than touch black goo, but after Purgatory, Leviathan ooze didn't scare me.

I touched it.

Naturally, the results weren't good. My surroundings swirled and melded together, the walls of the room dissolving in a splash of colours.

Just as I felt the world slipping away, Sam grabbed my arm.

We fell together through cold and a whirling rainbow.

* * *

I was lying in something soft, cold and wet.

Snow.

_Snow? _What the hell? Last we'd seen –

I opened my eyes.

Grey skies above, and the tops of pine trees. Dry powdery flakes falling on my face. Wind howling. Something that sounded like wolves mixed in with the wind.

Not good.

"Sam?"

No answer.

I had a second's fear – had the runes sent me back to Purgatory? Was I –

Wait. Snow. No snow in Purgatory.

Right.

"_Sam!_"

There was no response. But Sam had grabbed me, which meant that wherever the weird runes had taken me, odds were that Sam was there too.

I pushed myself up. I hurt, but it was a general ache. Didn't feel like anything was broken or out of place.

The snow was deep. I sank up to my knees in it, and I could tell that there was more snow, packed hard, under my feet.

_What the hell?_

I looked around, and saw Sam sprawled on his front a few yards away, unmoving. Snow was starting to cover him. His arms were flung out, that stupid hammer that cost five-eighths of a virgin lying a couple of inches from his right hand.

Nothing to show where we'd come from or how to get back.

But I had more important things to worry about than finding the way back right then. I dropped to my knees and turned Sam over. Blood trickled from a cut on his head. His skin was just as cold as the snow, which scared the hell out of me. Purgatory had prepared me to touch stuff that might be Leviathan ooze, but it hadn't prepared me for a frozen and unresponsive brother in the middle of nowhere.

"Hey! No sleeping now. Up, Sam, come on."

Sam stirred. "_Dean?_"

He sounded like a bewildered child, and I felt a flare of fierce protectiveness in parts of my soul I didn't even know I _had _anymore. Purgatory might have changed me in a lot of ways, but _nothing _could change the fact that I was a big brother.

I hauled Sam into a sitting position, resisting the insane urge to tug his head down to my shoulder and wrap him in my arms.

"C'mon, Sammy. We have to move before we turn into snowmen." I grabbed the hammer and put it in Sam's hands. "You think you can hold on to that? I'll get us under the trees, should give us some shelter until the snowstorm's died down. Then we can figure out where the hell we are."

"Uh-huh."

It took some heaving and grunting, because if you think it's difficult to walk through knee-deep snow in combat boots and jeans that are getting progressively more soaked, wait until you've tried it while keeping a twelve-foot-tall Yeti upright. Eventually, though, we got under the trees. I took the hammer from Sam, put it down, and lowered him next to it.

"No flashlight," I said. "And I don't want to wave my Zippo in your face, so we'll just assume your pupils are dilating normally. What's your name?"

"Sam…" Sam slurred.

"What's my name?"

"Jer… rk."

"Hey." I smacked him lightly on the arm. "Don't piss off the guy who might have to drag your sorry ass out of here. You know where we are?"

"Not… in… Kansas?"

I laughed, dropping to the ground by Sam. "Good boy. Now we just need to wait out the storm."

Sam mumbled something incomprehensible.

* * *

Two hours later, the snowstorm showed no signs of dying down. If anything, it was stronger, wind blowing the snow into a flurry so I couldn't see more than four feet in any direction. Sam and I were huddling together for warmth. Neither of us felt much like speaking, but I could feel his breath on my collarbone and it was oddly comforting.

Sam shivered and pushed closer to me. The cut on his head had stopped bleeding, but I didn't like how his movements were slowing.

"Hey," I said. "Any idea where we are?"

I asked it more to keep him alert and talking than anything. Sam, of course, took the question as an excuse to launch into a long and complicated lecture about what species the pines were, how old they looked, the direction the wind was blowing and the nature of the snow. I didn't listen to most of it; the short version was that he guessed we were somewhere Europe and north of the Arctic Circle.

"Wow," I muttered. "And how do we get home?"

That Sam _didn't _know.

"Couldn't read the runes," he mumbled, words muffled in my jacket. "Don't know what language they were, either. Old, though. Really old." A cold finger jabbed me in the ribs. "What the hell did you think you were doing _touching _them, idiot?"

"Hey, you didn't have to come along for the ride."

"What, I was going to let you get stuck somewhere alone?"

It was on the tip of my tongue to point out that Sam _had _let me get stuck alone for a year in Purgatory, but I didn't. Last thing we needed right now was an argument.

Of course the giant girl knew what I was thinking.

"I didn't know what to do, Dean," he said quietly. "I had no idea where you were."

"Yeah, because that's always stopped us before," I muttered. Sam flinched and I sighed.

It was true Sam couldn't have done a lot to help me, and I wasn't so much angry with him as I was afraid that the normal life he'd led would pull him back, and away from me.

I brushed a hand through his hair.

Sam said something – I felt it in puffs of air on my skin – but I couldn't hear him over the howling wind. I was pretty sure it would be something silly and chick-flicky anyway, so I didn't ask him to repeat it.

I also did not – did _not_ – hold him closer. And even if I had done – which I _didn't_ – it would _only_ have been for warmth.

That was when I saw the blurry outlines of a figure tramping through the snow. It was only a few feet away, but because of the storm it hadn't noticed us.

I had a strong feeling it was an _it _and not a _he _or a _she_.

I nudged Sam, who looked at it, then at me, and shrugged. He reached for the hammer.

The second his fingers touched the handle, the figure stopped short. It turned.

There was movement so fast I couldn't see it, and then a short man (relative to Sam I mean; on his own he would have been a respectable height) was holding Sam to the trunk of the pine we'd been sitting under. He wasn't wearing much – something that looked like a wolfskin wrapped around him, and boots.

The cold didn't seem to bother him.

He was holding Sam above his head, high enough that Sam's feet weren't touching the ground, and he had a chokehold just under Sam's chin.

"_Hey!_" I yelled, because what the hell? Did he not _see _one big brother right next to one Sasquatch? Did he _really _think he was going to be able to choke Sam without repercussions?

Wolfskin apparently _did _think that, because he ignored me and snarled something at Sam, something low and threatening in a language I couldn't understand. That just made me madder. If there's one thing I like less than people threatening my brother, it's people threatening my brother in gibberish.

"_HEY!_"

The man continued to ignore me. He spoke to Sam again, this time in a different language, but one I still didn't understand, although it sounded vaguely familiar.

Sam seemed to, though, because his eyes went wide with disbelief.

And then he responded in the same language.

The guy looked shocked, but he didn't loosen his hold. If anything, he tightened it. Sam gasped, hands going up to claw at the guy's fingers.

"_HEY!_"I pulled my gun out of my pocket and pointed it at the man. I doubted it would fire properly; it was too cold and the powder was probably damp, but maybe the guy didn't know that._ "_Let him _GO_!"

The guy turned to me, a wry smile on his lips.

"English? And we're a good thousand years away from that weapon, aren't we? It won't work on me in any case." He turned back to Sam. "So how did you get here? What are you doing with Mjölnir? And how do _you_ speak Enochian, human?"

So. Not gibberish. Or, to be specific, Enochian gibberish.

Yes, of course Sam spoke freaking Enochian. With all the time he spent in the Cage, he probably spoke it better than English.

"Let him go and we'll talk," I said.

The guy stepped back and away. Sam collapsed to his knees. I got to him just in time to keep him from face-planting.

"OK, Sammy?"

Sam nodded, but didn't say anything. He wasn't breathing so much as he was panting for air, fingers clutching my jeans like he would drown without the contact. I tilted his chin up. I could see red marks from the guy's fingers; they were going to turn into bruises later.

Bruises on Sammy's throat?

I didn't realize I was moving until I felt Sam stagger to his feet and put his hand on my elbow.

"_No_," he insisted. "Dean, don't. Trust me." He looked at the wolfskin dude. "We'll talk. Can you make it a little warmer here?"

Wolfskin raised an eyebrow. "Mortals making demands on –"

"_Please._"

Apparently Sam's wheedling voice worked on mysterious semi-naked supernatural men, because this one grimaced, rolled his eyes, and snapped his fingers. A large greenish bubble surrounded the three of us, keeping out the rain and the cold air.

Sam sagged against my shoulder.

"I don't even know which question I want answered first," Wolfskin said. "Let's start with the obvious one. How do you know Enochian?"

"Your… your brothers," Sam gasped. "They taught me. Michael and Lucifer." Sam pushed away from me, swaying but managing to stay on his feet.

"Lucifer? Are you out of your mind?"

"I can't explain, but I – I've met you. _You _in the future. We're from the future. I can't – look, I speak Enochian. You just heard it yourself. Where do you think I'd have learnt it if Angels didn't teach me?"

"Maybe," Wolfskin said. "That doesn't explain how you have Mjölnir."

"Plutus had an auction. Somebody bought it. I think maybe it was one of you – not _you _you, but Vili or Vé or someone – and I killed him." Wolfskin raised an eyebrow, and Sam explained, "He paid with five-eighths of a virgin."

Wolfskin pursed his lips. "Probably Vili. It's an unfortunate habit of his. I'm surprised Plutus took it. That's not much to weigh against Mjölnir… But maybe he thought that stupid hammer was more trouble than it was worth. So you're a hunter. Figures that hunters would outlast – never mind." He grabbed Sam's arm in a grip that probably bruised. "This isn't the time or place for this conversation. You know how to get back to where you came from?"

"Let him _go_," I snarled.

Sam ignored me, answering Wolfskin's question instead. "There were runes –"

"_Idiots_," Wolfskin hissed, releasing Sam's arm and shoving him away. Sam stumbled back, just managing to keep his feet. I caught him, steadied him, and tried to convey through a single look all the ways in which I was going to torture Wolfskin if he kept pushing my brother around. "Why would you… Can you at least _read _Enochian?"

"Yeah, I –"

"Fine. Then we'll manage. Come with me. I need to speak to him, and later we'll see about getting you back. Bring the hammer; it might calm him down."

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" Sam demanded.

"You should trust me."

"We're not stupid. Nobody trusts you. Especially not here. You can just send us back right now. You want something from us. That's why you're not doing it. Where do you want us to go?"

Wolfskin stared at us, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Asgard."

* * *

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	2. Freyja

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

For reviewing, thanks to Kirabaros, nupinoop296, Eavis, Ava, missingmikey, L.A.H.H, SPN Mum, BranchSuper, SandyDee84, SPNxBookworm, sammynanci, godsdaughter77, emebalia and Geemen.

Thanks to Cheryl for the beta help!

* * *

**Chapter II: Freyja**

"You're Gabriel." That was me saying that. Sam, of course, had worked it out the second Gabriel spoke to him in Enochian. "Loki?"

"Very impressive," Gabriel said, smiling. It wasn't a nice smile. "Slow, but impressive. As for why I want you, that should be obvious. I just met Thrymr."

Sam looked like he understood and didn't like what he was hearing.

It pisses me off when he does that.

"_What?_" I demanded. "How about a summary for the people who actually had a life in high school and _didn't _take Cryptic Conversations 101?"

Sam glanced at me. "Thor's hammer – this hammer – is missing. In this time. I have no idea when we are exactly, but a long time ago. Thrymr is a jötunn –"

"_Sam._"

"A supernatural bad guy. He has Mjölnir and he'll return it only if Freyja –"

"Goddess of Beauty?" I asked.

Sam rolled his eyes. "So _that _you know."

"Hey, not my fault if I have my priorities straight. Hot girls are important. Random bad guys are just gonna have to take a number. So what does Freyja need to do for this evil dude? Make the girl of his dreams fall in love with him?"

"Actually," Gabriel – Loki – whatever – interjected, "Thrymr wants to marry Freyja."

"And _Loki_ over here is on his way to explain to Thor," Sam added, shooting Gabriel a nasty look.

"So why does he need us?" I asked.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Sam said, turning back to Gabriel. "Why do you need us?"

"I have no reason to believe your story," Gabriel pointed out. "I can tell you're human, but that doesn't mean anything. For all I know, you stole Mjölnir from Thrymr. We can take it to Thor. He'll know if it's his hammer."

"It _is _his hammer," I told him. "Just from our time."

"He'll know that, too. Trust me. He loves that hammer like it's his baby."

"Then take the hammer and send us back."

"Can't do that, boy. If it _is _from your time, we can't have two Mjölnirs at the same time. If they were ever used against each other… Well. Let's just say we don't want that to happen or _your _time might never exist. I'll have to send it back, and I can't send it through time by itself. Someone from _your _time will have to take it back." Gabriel crossed his arms and glared. "If you know who I am, you know we can do this the hard way."

Sam glared right back. "Believe me, there is _nothing _you can do to me that your brothers haven't already done and done worse."

_Awesome, Sam. Distract me by saying things that make it impossible for me to think beyond the fact that someone hurt my baby brother. That's going to get us out of this._

"You need me to send you home," Gabriel said.

"How do we know you _will _do that if we help you?"

"Haven't you been paying attention, insect? If you're telling the truth, this version of Mjölnir has to go back to your time and I can't send it by itself. You and your short friend are part of the deal."

"Fine," Sam said, grimacing and not even _bothering _to point to Gabriel that I'm not short. "Let's get this over with."

"One thing." Gabriel dropped a hand to Sam's forehead and held it there for a second. Then he came to me and did the same thing. It gave me a slight jolt, but I didn't feel any different. "Archangels have the gift of tongues," he explained. "Now you can understand Norse. Saves me having to translate if Thor loses his temper."

I didn't feel reassured.

* * *

Thor was huge. I mean, _huge_. Ifelt intimidated at the sight of him, and I'm a guy who's shared a room with Sam Winchester for most of my life. _Sam _looked intimidated at the sight of him, and he _is _Sam Winchester.

Thor had at least a foot (a freaking _foot_) on Sam. Bright yellow hair even longer than Sam's. _Unlike_ Sam, he had a full beard and moustache, probably in an attempt to look manly.

He didn't need it. Even without the facial fuzz, the bulging muscles would have precluded _any _attempt to call him a girl. He was more ripped than Sam when he was soulless.

I really needed to stop comparing Thor to Sam. That was the kind of thing that led to disaster, because if I kept equating Thor with a souped-up version of Sammy, I'd wind up assuming that he was as stupidly gentle as Sammy, too. And that would get us both killed.

The fact that Thor _wasn't _Sam was brought home to me when Sam, who'd recovered enough to be steady on his feet, was swept off them for the second time that day when Thor saw the hammer in Sam's hand, seized him and started to shake him like a dog worrying a rat. This was _despite _the fact that Gabriel had gone in earlier to explain.

"Let him go," I growled. I had no idea what I could do against _that_, but I was tired of people manhandling Sam.

Sam dropped the hammer. Thor caught it, releasing his grip on Sam.

This time I was prepared. I had my shoulder under Sam's arm before he could even _begin _to stagger. Sam buried his head in the crook of my neck. That alarmed me. It wasn't like the kid to be clingy in public. "Sammy? You OK?"

"He can _have _the freaking hammer," Sam gasped. "He can have all the freaking hammers in the entire freaking _world_. Just get us out of this."

"I'm on it." I pushed Sam behind me. "Hey. Thor." Thor looked at me, all glittering blue eyes and mask of fury, and I softened my tone a little. Only a little, because the son of a bitch had been bullying Sammy. "So? Satisfied that we didn't steal your hammer?"

Thor glared at me. "This _is _Mjölnir. Mjölnir in the future, yes, but Mjölnir."

"So… This isn't _your _hammer?" Gabriel interjected carefully.

"Were you not listening to me?" Thor asked. "Am I, perhaps, speaking Phoenician? This is Mjölnir."

"From the future," Gabriel said. "So it's not _your _Mjölnir."

"Mjölnir is _always _mine."

"Yes, of course. I would never dream of suggesting otherwise. I just mean that this hammer must be returned to its time and _we _must recover the _present _Mjölnir from Thrymr."

"Where did you get it?" Thor bellowed, turning on us again.

Sam stepped out from behind me. "At an auction." He glanced from Thor to Gabriel and back. "Plutus. I don't know where he got it. Someone – I think it was Vili – bought it. He paid – he killed a virgin. I killed him and took it."

"What is an auction?" Thor said, still loudly enough to be heard at whatever the opposite end of the world from Asgard is, but now more curious than angry.

"It's a place where people sell valuable things to the highest bidder," Sam explained.

"And Mjölnir cost a _virgin_?"

"Five-eighths of a virgin, actually –"

"Not even an _entire _virgin?" Thor roared.

"Wow, Sam," I muttered. "Great job not pissing off the guy who can smash us to bits."

"But – but I killed Vili," Sam pointed out to Thor desperately. "When he made the bargain."

"You killed Vili for Mjölnir?" Thor demanded.

"_No_," Sam said quickly. "No. Sorry – I forgot he was your uncle – and I understand Mjölnir is yours – it was because he killed a girl."

"Sacrificing virgins is frowned upon in your time?" Thor's brow furrowed. "And you would kill to avenge a death sooner than you would kill to gain a weapon like Mjölnir? It sounds like you live in a dull era. What do they call you?"

"My name's Sam. And this is Dean."

"Older brother," I added, just to set the record straight.

"Welcome to Asgard, Sam. Welcome to Asgard, Dean Older Brother. Much as I would like to learn more about your time – and about this _Plutus_ who appears to have stolen Mjölnir and sold it to Vili for the paltry sum of five-eighths of a virgin." Thor looked like the thought physically hurt him. "As though there was a shortage of… However, that is not important now. Loki!"

The last word was spoken in a thunderous voice, and Gabriel hurried forward. "Thor."

"What exactly are Thrymr's terms?"

"He will return Mjölnir to you if the immortal Freyja will consent to marry him," Loki recited in the bored tone of a messenger delivering a singing telegram.

"Come. We must speak to Freyja."

"Yes, let me just send _this _Mjölnir and these two men back to the future –"

"No!" Thor snapped. "They stay until I have Mjölnir."

"But –"

"What if I need something to beat Thrymr with until he returns Mjölnir?"

"You wouldn't consider using your fists?" Thor looked horrified and Gabriel sighed. "Why did I even suggest it? Fine. You two – you're on duty."

"What?" I said. "You said you'd send us back!"

"I will. Soon." Gabriel shrugged. "You could come with us to see Freyja. It's worth staying a few more hours for that."

* * *

Freyja was –

I'd say she was hot, but that doesn't do her justice. There's no word that does her justice. She was tall – almost as tall as Sam – but so perfectly proportioned that I didn't notice it until I saw how she was towering over Gabriel. There were cascades of golden hair falling down her back, and her eyes…

A man could drown in those eyes.

She wore a dress that clung impossibly tightly to her chest and then tumbled to the ground in easy waves. A pure white cat was curling itself back and forth around her ankles, and another was sitting on her shoulder.

"No," Freyja told Thor coldly.

Feisty, too. Apparently Freyja was just perfect.

Thor didn't try his intimidating voice on her. He just shook his head, leaned forward, and said coaxingly, "Lady Freyja, you must see how important this is to all Asgard. We cannot allow one of the jötunn to have such a powerful weapon."

"Then go to battle with Thrymr and seize Mjölnir from his bloody corpse like the warrior you claim you are," Freyja said contemptuously. "These schemes are games for children."

My kind of girl, this Freyja.

Freyja could apparently read minds, because she glared at me furiously.

"Lady Freyja," Gabriel-Loki tried. "Perhaps –"

"_Silence!_" She turned her burning gaze on him, and the cat on her shoulder hissed and spat. Gabriel actually shrank back. Freyja turned back to Thor. "If you cannot reclaim your weapon in honest battle as a man should, you do not deserve it."

"Lady Freyja," Thor protested. "It is your duty to – to all Asgard! I know Thrymr is… is…"

"Jötunn scum," Freyja said clearly, her voice ringing through the pillared hall. The cat at her feet gave a full-throated purr of approval, wrapped itself once around her shin, and bared its teeth at Thor.

"Jötunn scum," Thor said placatingly. "I know Thrymr is jötunn scum, a hammer-thief, and foul-smelling to boot. I understand your natural revulsion towards him. But think of what will happen to us if the strongest weapon of the gods is in the hands of –"

"_You _should have thought of that _before _you let him steal it!"

"Freyja –"

"I said _no_!" Freyja yelled, and just like that, the floor and the walls started to shake. One of the necklaces she was wearing glowed red-hot and fell to the ground, where it started to burn a hole in the stone of the flooring. The other two immortal gods didn't look too worried about it – maybe this was _normal _in Asgard, maybe making earthquakes and melting stone was their equivalent of squeezing a stress ball.

Sam shot me an alarmed look, and I nodded. I agreed with him completely. It was long past time to be gone.

"But it wasn't my _fault_!" Thor yelled back, making the rafters vibrate. The cat at Freyja's feet hissed and spat at him. "I was _asleep_! He took it by stealth like a thief in the night!"

"Then you take it back by stealth! How _dare _you come before me and suggest that I sacrifice myself because you were too stupid to safeguard your own property? They will be laughing at you in Jötunheimr for _years_. 'Look at the mighty Thor,' they will say, 'who is so ineffectual he cannot even retrieve his fabled weapon from the foolish jötunn Thrymr without help.'"

Thor stamped his foot.

The stone floor cracked.

Before he could start getting _really _mad, Gabriel stepped between him and Freyja and said, "_Wait! _Let's at least take this to the others. Maybe _someone _will have a plan."

* * *

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	3. Thing

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

Thanks to godsdaughter77, SPN Mum, nupinoop296, SPNxBookworm, L.A.H.H, SandyDee84, Jeanny, Kirabaros, emebalia, sammynanci and BranchSuper for reviewing and to Cheryl for the beta. :)

* * *

**Chapter III: Thing**

Thor had flatly refused to let 'Loki' send us away until the problem of the missing hammer was sorted out. He was holding on to _our _version of it like it was a lifeline. Loki was looking at us like he thought all this was somehow _our _fault. (And fine, I shouldn't have touched the stupid runes, but _we _didn't make Thrummer or whatever his name was go after the damn hammer.)

Sam and I wound up trailing after Thor, Loki and Freyja to the court of the gods.

And he really wasLoki now. Earlier, in the snow outside and even with Thor and Freyja, he'd seemed like the Gabriel we knew. In the halls of the gods he was _Loki_; Sam had told me Loki started out as just another Trickster but he could be pure evil when the mood took him, and the version of himself he showed the other Norse gods –

Well, Gabriel _was _Lucifer's brother.

They'd spent at least an hour arguing before one of them stood up. He was armed, like all the others, sword strapped to his hip and something that looked like a horn, except about eight times bigger than any horn I've ever seen, across his chest.

"I hope that's Heimdallr," Sam whispered to me.

I ignored him. Sam knows he's supposed to speak English if he wants me to respond.

The guy, whoever he was, looked around at the assembled group and said, "I have a suggestion."

"Speak," said the man at the head of the table. He was older than the others, wearing a floppy hat pulled down low so that one eye was hidden. Sam had whispered to me that he was Odin and I shouldn't mention Sam killing Vili (the creep with the virgin in a paper bag) because apparently Vili was his brother.

"Mjölnir is Thor's and it is Thor's responsibility to retrieve it. Therefore let us dress Thor in bridal garments. Let him wear Freyja's necklace Brísingamen and carry keys as she does. Let him wear a woman's dress that falls to his knees and gems on his breast. Let him wear a cap with a veil. Let _Thor _go to Jötunheimr disguised as Freyja, and there let him take Mjölnir from Thrymr and bring it back to Asgard."

I nodded to myself, because at least this sounded like a _plan_. Thor was huge, of course, but Freyja _was _almost as tall as Sam so maybe it could be pulled off. At the very least, it might get Thor through Thrummer's door.

"No," Thor said coldly.

"_No?_" Freyja enquired.

"I will not dress as a woman. It would be too humiliating."

"I see. You will attempt to persuade _me _to marry the miserable jötunn because you lack the courage to face him and recover your property, but to dress as a _woman_ is humiliating. You should be dressed as a newborn mortal babe! We can send you to Thrymr in swaddling-clothes!"

"Freyja," Odin said in mild reproof.

"I only asked you to make a small sacrifice for the safety of Asgard," Thor began, but he was interrupted by the guy sitting next to Freyja, who got to his feet furiously.

"You impugn my sister's honour –"

"Freyr!" Odin said sharply. "Sit down!"

"Lord Thor," Loki cut in smoothly before anybody could say anything else. "If Lady Freyja is unwilling, there is no other way to retrieve Mjölnir. You must go and get it yourself. Without Mjölnir – and your strength behind it – defending us, the Jötnar will invade Asgard. We will be driven away."

"No."

"Thor," Odin tried, "there is wisdom in what Loki says. We must have the hammer."

"No." Thor scowled around the room, daring anyone to argue with him. I tried very hard to look like I wasn't even _thinking _about arguing. I was sure I'd succeeded when his eyes slid over me without slowing –

And then Thor was looking. Not at me, but, even worse, _next _to me.

At Sam.

"We can send _him_," Thor said.

* * *

"You freaking stupid _morons," I seethed at Loki. To think I'd __ever thought Gabriel was anything resembling decent. He was evil. Pure, unadulterated evil. "My little brother. __My little brother. You're too freaking useless to rescue your own freaking hammer and you want Sammy to do it for you. Are you out of your freaking __mind?"_

"It's a good plan."

"A good plan?" I asked incredulously. "_A good plan? _Compared to what? Not having enough lifeboats on the _Titanic_? It's not happening."

"What's the _Titanic_?"

"Screw that. You can't have Sam."

"Sam hasn't expressed unwillingness –"

"That's because Sam's a freaking _moron_. It's because he's so tall. Can't get enough oxygen to his brain at that altitude. If he thinks I'm letting him go off to fight some Norse monster called Thrummer –"

"Thrymr," Loki corrected, and that did it.

"Do you think I care about his _name_?" I yelled. "He can call himself Paris Hilton and my answer's still going to be the same. _No. _And what the hell is a jötunn anyway?"

"The jötnar are a race of –"

"Rhetorical question. I'll tell you what the jötnar are. They're sons of bitches who aren't getting anywhere _near_ my little brother on my watch. Are we on the same page here? You need me to draw you a diagram? I don't care what's going to happen to Asgard without the hammer. If Thor was stupid enough to lose it, Thor can go and get it back his freaking self."

"But –"

"You keep your freaking paws off Sammy."

Loki sighed. Then he stiffened and waved me to silence. "They're coming in. Don't say anything to Thor. You don't want to upset him."

"What makes you so sure? Doesn't seem to bother _him _that he's upset _me_."

"Dean –"

Before Loki could say more, the door was thrust violently open. Thor, Sam and Freyja came into the room. Sam looked pale and more than a little nervous. When he met my eyes, though, he just shrugged.

"Don't," I told Thor. "Not Sam. He's my little brother."

"It is the only way."

"No… Look, if this stupid thing has to happen, at least let me do it instead."

"You?" Thor asked in disbelief. "You are too short, Dean Older Brother." He glanced at Sam. "He is short as well, but tall enough to pass for the Lady Freyja."

"He's not –"

"We don't have a choice, Dean," Sam said quietly.

"What? What kind of crap is that? Of course we have a choice. You don't go walking into a trap set by some frost-giant bad guy all by yourself. That's the choice."

"Dean." Sam grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. "If they don't get the freaking hammer back, they're not going to let us go. I have to do this."

"Sam…" I shook my head. "Fine." I turned to Loki. "You want it that way. Fine. Sam can do this. But if he's going in, I'm going in with him. I am _not _sending my little brother into that alone."

"You're going with him?" Loki scoffed. "As _what_? His pet wolf?" He glanced at Thor. "Do you think he's tall enough to pass for a wolf?"

"Hey!" I snapped. "I'm taller than you, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Yes, but I don't want to disguise myself as a wolf, so that's irrelevant. You, on the other hand… Is there a Land of Short People in your time? Is that where you grew up?"

"Not enough nourishing food!" Thor boomed from behind him. "Had you eaten meat, you might not have been so short."

I wasn't sure when me yelling at Loki about putting my brother in unnecessary danger had turned into Loki and Thor making fun of my size, but I couldn't let that one pass.

"I _do _eat meat!" I protested. "Sam's the one who doesn't. Only ever eats vegetables."

"Really?" Thor looked at Sam speculatively. "That explains it. If he had eaten enough meat, he might have grown taller… But you are his older brother. Did you take all the meat and leave him only the vegetables?"

I glared at Thor, resenting the implication.

Before I could say anything, Sam cut in with, "Dean took better care of me than anyone else could have. I ate vegetables because I actually paid attention in science class and so I didn't end up thinking that the four basic food groups were hamburgers, pie, alcohol and M&Ms. Now can we _please _just get this over with?"

"Loki?" I said. "You have a way yet?"

Loki grimaced. "If you're going to make a fuss about it… Fine. We can dress you as an attendant. Some of Freyja's attendants are short."

"Whoa, you're dressing me as a _woman_?"

"They're dressing me as _Freyja_," Sam pointed out. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," he added hastily to Freyja.

"Hey, you _are _a girl," I told him. "All that hair? Thrummer probably won't even realize you're not female. I, on the other hand, am too ruggedly masculine to pass myself off as a lady's maid. It would never work."

"As you wish," Loki said coolly. "Then Sam can go alone."

"_What?_ No way."

"Let me make this easy for you, Dean, since it appears that future humans have difficulty understanding basic logic. Sam can go alone. You can go with Sam disguised as one of Freyja's maids. Those are your options."

"Why can't I disguise myself as a manservant?"

"Freyja has none."

"Does Thrummer know that?"

"_Thrymr_," Loki said through gritted teeth, "will be expecting a trick. It's going to be difficult enough to get the two of you in even disguised as women. If _you_ go as a man he'll think you're Thor and he won't let you through the gate. Is that what you want?"

Let them put a dress on me, or let Sam go face some Norse monster alone. There really wasn't a choice.

* * *

The one thing that was even a little comforting was that even though I looked ridiculous, Sam looked worse.

I was wearing a – I can't believe I'm saying this, freaking _Gabriel_ – a _dress_. But because I was only a handmaiden (keep laughing and I'll stab you, Sam) and also because I'm not freakishly muscled or twenty feet tall like Sam, it was, at least, a simple brown dress and I had my boots and jeans on under it. They'd shaved me, too, so closely that I almost looked pre-pubescent. I also had a long blonde wig but at least I only looked a little stupid. And the dress had a veil so if we looked like meeting anyone we knew, I could hide my face and they wouldn't know it was me.

Sam wasn't so lucky. He was only about an inch taller than Freyja so nobody was worried that Thrymr would notice the height difference, but Freyja didn't have bulging biceps and she _did _have bulges elsewhere, and that Thrymr _would _notice.

So to conceal the deception as much and for as long as possible, they'd found something frilly and pouffy for Sam to wear. Freyja herself was directing operations. (And of _course _Sam wasn't enjoying being poked and prodded by the Norse goddess of beauty the way a normal man would. No, _he _was blushing like a twelve-year-old every time she touched him.)

Even the fact that Sam had his jeans on underneath (he'd _insisted_, like that would help him preserve his manliness) couldn't hide the ruffles and lace all over the dress. Freyja and her maidens were covering his arms with bracelets and putting strings of gemstones around his neck. Two of the cats were pawing at the bottom of the dress and fluffing it out even more.

Finally they gave Sam a wig too, long and curly and golden, just like Freyja's hair. Freyja was the one who put it on him, getting right up close to do it, and you would've _thought _that Sam would have taken the hint and kissed the beautiful pagan goddess, but _no_. He went scarlet and turned his head away. Freyja looked vastly amused.

"Men are shy in your time," she observed.

"Not men," I told her. "Just Sam."

Freyja smiled at me. It was a little freaky having a woman look down at me from Sam's height, but she was _hot_.

Before I could make a move, she gestured to her maidens. They put a veil on Sam – and not a normal veil like mine but layers and layers of some transparent gauzy thing that _actually_ made it look like there was a girl underneath.

"You are ready," Freyja pronounced.

* * *

"You understand the plan?" Loki asked. "You and Sam get in. Sam has your time's Mjölnir concealed under his cloak in case of an emergency." Thor made an unhappy noise, and Loki frowned at him. "If you feel that way about it, _you go in disguised as Freyja. No? Then let me handle this." He looked back at me. "It'll be cold enough in the hall that you'll have an excuse for keeping the cloak on, so the hammer will stay hidden. Dean, nobody's going to pay any attention to you, so while Sam's distracting everyone, you figure out where Mjölnir is, get it and smuggle it out. Then you go back for Sam."_

"So I still end up leaving Sam alone with the murderous monsters."

"Only for as long as it takes you to bring Mjölnir to us. Besides, I'm sure Sam can take care of himself."

"Yeah," Sam said, pretty much the first thing he'd said since Freyja had hustled us into her dressing room. "I can."

I glared at him.

"Right. Because you can manage just fine without me, can't you?"

Sam sighed. "You know that's not what I meant. Do we have to do this now?"

I glared a moment more before I said, "Yeah, OK. Let's get the hammer back and then we can go back to our world and you can go back to wishing you didn't have to stay with me."

"Dean!" Sam protested, but I ignored it, leading the way out into the snow and wind.

* * *

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	4. Jötunheimr

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

For reviewing, thanks to Eavis, insanetumbler, nupinoop296, BranchSuper, godsdaughter77, SPN Mum, SPNxBookworm, L.A.H.H, Katy M VT, Kirabaros, emebalia, scootersmom, SandyDee84, Jeanny and sammynanci.

Thanks to Cheryl for putting up with the geeking out. ;-)

* * *

**Chapter IV: Jötunheimr**

Loki and Thor came with us right up to the gates to Jötunheimr. They really _were _gates, huge iron gates that were shut fast, with a heavy chain holding them closed. We went – I can't believe I'm saying this – in a chariot drawn by goats.

Yeah. Goats. The kind that make weird bleaty noises and try to eat your hair.

Of course because we were living a freaky Norse legend, the goats were munching something that looked horribly like a raw, dismembered cow when we first saw them.

Thor drew up outside the gates and we all got down. Sam's eyes were wide as he looked at the gates. Past them, nearly at the horizon, we could see the bulk of a huge castle through the endlessly-falling snow. I asked if that was our destination. Loki nodded.

"We would storm it, but it's closely guarded. We don't have a hope without the hammer, and in any case I don't want to risk having the two hammers used against each other… So you remember the plan?" he added for the five millionth time.

Before I could say something snarky, Sam said, "Yeah, we do. But I want a sign of good faith."

"From _us_?"

Sam shrugged. "You have _us _all dressed up about to infiltrate Jötunheimr. I think that's enough of a sign of good faith on our side."

"What do you want?"

Sam raised his head and stiffened his shoulders, making sure Loki was _very _aware of his extra inches. "Send Dean home now. Safe. Unharmed."

I said, "What the hell!" about the same moment Loki said, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"You'll still have me," Sam said calmly. "I'll go in and pretend to be Freyja, and _you _can sneak in as the handmaiden and get the hammer. You don't need Dean for this."

Before Loki could say anything, I told him, "Excuse me a moment. I need to pound some sense into my _idiot_ brother."

Then I dragged Sam away. It was easy enough, given how much he was floundering in his ridiculous frilly dress.

Once we'd put a comfortable distance between us and the two pagan gods, I said, "Are you out of your freaking _mind_, Sam? Do you not _know _the plan? You really think this _Loki _dude is going to come back for you once he's got his hammer?"

"Dean –"

"He's not Gabriel. Remember that. Gabriel was – OK, maybe a _little _less of a bastard than the other sons of bitches, and I know you have a soft spot for him because he brought me back to life when you begged him to. But you've told me yourself Loki can be evil."

"But you'll be safe," Sam said, like I was an idiot for not seeing that. "Dean, there's no sense both of us risking our lives for this."

"Did you miss the part where I agreed to this damn fool plan _only _because I was going in _with _you?" Sam started to pull the eyes, but I grabbed his shoulder before he could. "Don't. I get it, OK? I get that you can persuade Gabriel to do this and then he'll send me back with or without my consent, but don't."

"You'll be safe," Sam said softly.

I was torn between wanting to ask him where all the concern had been while I was in Purgatory and hugging him until he stopped sounding so young and lost.

But I didn't want to start a fight, and we had lost enough manliness by wearing _dresses_, so I just said, "Together, Sam. Come on. Isn't that the way we always do it? You and me against whatever crap is going on. We'll be fine."

Sam sighed. "Fine."

* * *

Sam and I were trudging through the knee-deep snow. I had a guiding hand on Sam's shoulder. Visibility sucked for _me_. I was sure Sam, who now had all those layers of gauzy veil down over his face, wouldn't be able to see a damn thing.

We'd covered about half the distance to the castle when there was a loud clanking sound. Another chariot appeared from the mist, a horse-drawn one, with a Thor-sized guy sitting on it. Unlike Thor, though, who just looked like he didn't care about much beyond alcohol and fighting, this guy actually looked malevolent.

I pulled my veil over my face just before he descended.

"Lady Freyja?" He asked. Sam inclined his head without saying anything. The man smiled. "I was sent to bring you to my master. Come with me." His burning gaze fell on me. "Are you Lady Freyja's handmaiden?"

I decided that for once it would be best to follow Sam's example and nod.

"You may come with us as well."

He handed Sam into the chariot as delicately as if he'd been a piece of fine porcelain. Apparently the goddess-of-beauty impression was good enough to convince one jötunn, at least. I filed it away to tease Sam about later.

The chariot drew up outside the castle. Sam and I were shown to a private room so the Lady Freyja could prepare herself for her first meeting with her bridegroom.

"Now what?" I asked. "How long do I have before they know you're not Freyja?"

Sam shrugged. "I can probably pull it off until I have to take off the veil. Based on the legend, Thrymr's going to feed me first, so you have some time." He slipped the hammer out and handed it to me. "Best if you keep that. You're the one who's going to have to fight."

"You can't go in weaponless."

"If I can pull this off, it won't come to my needing a weapon. And if they have guards on Mjölnir, you'll need some way to get past them. Keep it. I'll see you after the wedding feast."

I took it, frowning at the mention of the wedding feast. "Don't eat anything they give you."

I couldn't _see _Sam rolling his eyes because of the veil, but I could sense it. "Don't be ridiculous, Dean. Thrymr thinks I'm Freyja. He's not going to want to poison me."

"Yeah, but what if he suspects a trick and serves up something that's safe only for Gods? Thor would have been fine." I shook my head. "And we wouldn't even know how to identify something like that. So, no, Sam. No food. And it's not like you're a big fan of food _anyway_, so don't be a bitch and decide to eat here just because I'm telling you not to."

Sam laughed. "OK. Fine. I won't eat. Happy?"

"I'll be happy when we're back home."

Sam opened his mouth, but before he could say anything the man was back. "Thrymr awaits the Lady Freyja."

I squeezed Sam's shoulder and whispered, "Be careful. Stay alive."

Sam shot me a look, though I couldn't really read his expression under all those veils. But his hand found my arm, and I felt the press of his fingers on my bicep. Then Sam and the jötunn were gone and I was alone.

I didn't leave the room right away. If this Thrymr person had even half a brain, he suspected a trick. There would be guards outside the door. There'd probably be guards outside the windows, too.

But they'd be expecting a woman in a dress, not a hunter with a job to do.

I stripped down to my jeans. I didn't have a shirt and it was _freezing_, but I could swipe one of those off the first guard I managed to knock out.

I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon, because I didn't trust the hammer to behave itself and I didn't plan to use it except as a last resort. Finally I decided on the heavy poker next to the fireplace. I hefted it. It had a nice balance, sitting in my palm like it was _meant _to be a weapon and not a household implement.

Right. It was time to go kick some Norse-bad-guy ass.

The door was unlocked. There was only one guard outside the room and he was freaking _useless_, standing around staring cluelessly into the distance. Probably because he thought I was a handmaiden and not a threat.

Idiot.

By the time he managed to turn, I'd hit him hard enough to wind him, and another firm blow sent him sprawling to the ground. Then I used the hammer to make sure he wouldn't be getting up again.

I grabbed his sword and his coat. It would be about twelve times too big on me – hell, it would've been twelve times too big on _Sam _– and it smelt weird, but it would have to do. At least the sword was sharp.

The place was huge, though, and I didn't have the faintest clue where to start looking. I bit my lip. Time was important – time was _crucial_; Sam couldn't keep up the charade forever and I didn't think he could defend himself against a horde of angry giants even if he had Mjölnir. I had to be quick –

And I couldn't do this alone.

Making up my mind, I made my way down the corridor to where I could hear sounds of feasting and revelry. (Sam's words, not mine.) A couple of the frost-things shot me sidelong glances as I walked past, but it looked like they were too drunk to register that I wasn't one of them.

I opened the huge double doors and slipped into the high stone hall.

Nobody noticed. Everyone's eyes were on the table at the far end of the room, where a plus-sized dude was singing drunkenly about the beauty of his new wife.

I couldn't hold back a smirk. This was _years' _worth of blackmail material. I would never be letting Sam live this down.

But first we needed to get out and get back home, and for that we needed Mjölnir.

Sam was sitting next to Thrymr, head bowed and hands clasped demurely on the table. He was barely moving, probably not wanting to cause any extra scrutiny.

I sidled along the wall. I knew the moment Sam caught the movement; and as soon as he raised his head a fraction, _he _knew it was me.

Sam ducked his head again so quickly I half-thought I'd imagined him noticing me. He laid a hand on his companion's arm, as gently as a woman would. I didn't know whether to laugh or grit my teeth. When Thrymr bent to whisper to Sam, I decided on gritting my teeth.

After a moment, Thrymr raised his head. "Lady Freyja wishes to see the hammer Mjölnir," he announced.

Two of the jötnar standing behind him began to make their way to the door, and I let out a sigh. Sam had known what I needed. Of _course _Sam had known. We might not be on the best of terms, and he might have half his mind on the girl he'd left behind, but he still knew me better than anybody else ever would.

I slipped out and followed the jötnar who were going for the hammer.

* * *

Getting it wasn't difficult. They were too drunk to know I was following them, and I had a sword. And a magic-hammer-from-the-future under my coat.

I hid the second hammer under my coat too – nice furry greatcoat, I could've hidden a freaking _car _under there and not shown it beyond looking like a bit like Santa Claus (the Disney kind, not the creep who pulled out one of Sam's fingernails).

Then I went back to the hall.

Well, _obviously_. I wasn't leaving without Sam, Gabriel's stupid plan notwithstanding. And he was an idiot for _ever_ thinking I would.

I slipped in. If the freaks hadn't been drunk out of their tiny brains they'd probably have wondered what was up with me coming and going, but they were too far gone.

Sam looked up again, eyes meeting mine automatically as I made my way through the crowd to him. I nodded.

Sam bitchfaced at my lack of adherence to the plan – and if _Sam _thought I was going to follow a plan that involved me leaving him unarmed and helpless with a horde of drunk Norse giants, things were worse than I'd thought – but he got to his feet, extricating himself deftly from the arm Thrymr had flung around his back.

"Moron," he hissed, as soon as he was close enough.

"Me or your new husband?"

"Shut up. What are you doing here? Did you get it?"

"Of course I got it. What do you take me for? Come on, let's go."

Before we could get moving, though, the doors were flung open and a guard hurried in.

"Treachery!" he yelled. "Lord Thrymr, your men are slain and Mjölnir has been taken!"

Oh crap.

The news seemed to sober Thrymr at once. His ugly little eyes narrowed as his head swivelled, until he was looking straight at Sam.

Oh _crap_.

"Dean, go," Sam hissed under his breath, as Thrymr got to his feet.

"Are you freaking _insane_? I'm not leaving!"

"We can't fight them all off, Dean. And he already suspects me. He's not going to let me leave. You have to go. Take the hammer to Thor and come back _with _Thor and Loki."

"Not happening."

"Dean. It's the only way you can help me. Or else we're both going to die here." I shook my head. It was sensible, and rational, but still. _No. _"Dean, please." Thrymr growled an order, and a couple of the giants seized Sam's arms. "_Please._"

That was the last word Sam had time for before they dragged him back to the table, ripping the veils off and pushing him roughly to his knees.

I swallowed. Sam was right. The only way I could help him was to leave and come back with the people who could actually _kill _these sons of bitches.

I waited until everyone was yelling and seizing weapons, and then I ran out of the room.

* * *

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	5. Asgard

**Disclaimer: **Nothing's mine.

**Author's Note: **Sorry this is so late. I don't even have an excuse; it was written. Still, here it is now… the last chapter.

For reviews, thanks to SPNxBookworm, Kirabaros, godsdaughter77, SandyDee84, L.A.H.H, sylvia37, scootersmom, sammynanci, SPN Mum and Bundibird.

* * *

**Chapter V: Asgard**

Nobody tried to stop me. Apparently those jötnar weren't very bright. Or maybe they _were _just that drunk. They were pushing past each other to get into the hall, waving their swords and yelling about traitors and two-timing Æsir and traitorous Vanir and a whole lot of other stuff that made me realize Sam's life depending on me coming back with Thor and Loki. _Fast._

It took a good couple of hours of trudging through knee-deep snow before I finally saw them. They were lounging – Sam was suffering for the sake of their stupid piece of hardware and the sons of bitches were _lounging_ – next to Thor's chariot, Thor staring idly up at the sky and Loki reading a book.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Heads up!"

They looked up. Thor's face burst into a huge smile. "Dean Older Brother!"

"Here." I thrust the stolen-and-now-recovered hammer at Thor, clutching the one from our time to my chest. I hadn't left it with Sam because Gabriel would probably have spouted some crap about the world ending if the two hammers were used against each other and refused to rescue him. "You have your freaking Mjölnir. We've kept our end of the deal. Now come get Sam."

Thor snatched the hammer, his fingers curling possessively around the handle as he carefully examined every inch.

"Can't you do that _later_? They could be _killing _Sam in there."

"Mmmm," Thor mumbled, not interested in much other than his hammer. He was stroking it in a way that was positively creepy. If I waited a little longer, he'd probably start singing it a lullaby.

I turned to Gabriel for help.

And I stopped short when I saw his eyes, gleaming like opals as he looked me up and down.

Son of a bitch.

The _son _of a _bitch_.

"You're going to let them have Sam."

"There are casualties in war, Dean. You have the hammer from your time. I can send you back."

"You… No. This isn't some spur of the moment thing, is it? You _lied_ to us. You were never going to go back for him. You just wanted me to bring you that stupid hammer and you were counting on Sam giving me _ours _so you could send me back."

"I'm sorry about your brother –"

"_Sorry? _Yeah, I'll bet you are. You think I'm just going to let you do this?"

"Do you think a puny mortal can stop me?"

"Puny mortal? Well, yeah. I'm a mortal. Thank God. I'd never want to be one of _you_. And compared to the Incredible Hulk over there, I'm puny. But my brother won a battle of wills with Lucifer and dragged both Lucifer and Michael into the Cage in time to prevent the Apocalypse. And _I _am older, wiser, and not a hippie. So, yes, I _do _think I can prevent you from abandoning my brother. You keep your end of the bargain and help me get Sam out, or I'm going to _make_ you." I drew a shaky breath. "You weren't this much of a douche in our time." He looked like he was wavering, and I added, "Can you _stop _being Loki and be freaking Gabriel for five minutes? You're an Archangel! You're supposed to help people who deserve it."

"You think your brother deserves my help?"

"I think you promised not to abandon him here. And I think if _anyone _deserves a break, Sam does. And I think I have our time's Mjölnir and you were desperate to prevent the hammers being used against each other."

"You would _never _win against Thor."

"I don't have to. I just have to throw the hammer at him and then, if what you said is true, we're all dead. If you don't want that, you're going to have to come with me and get Sam."

Gabriel sighed. "Fine. It's not like those giants can kill me permanently." He turned to Thor. "We have to go."

Thor looked up, clutching the hammer possessively to his chest. "Go where?"

"For Sam. Thrymr still has him." When Thor just looked at him, Gabriel added, "Sam helped save your hammer."

"He helped restore Mjölnir." Thor nodded sharply. "A noble act! I knew there was something likeable about that young man. Come!" He hefted the hammer, raising his head and looking into the distance like he was going to bring the castle down through sheer force of will. "I am going to kill the villain who kidnapped Mjölnir!"

* * *

This time, as we went back, there was no sneaking around.

I led the way.

The falling snow had completely covered my footprints and the wind kept shifting the landscape, so I could see how they might have had trouble finding it on their own. But I didn't need a map; Sam was in trouble and all I needed was my big-brother radar to tell me how to get to him.

The doors at the main entrance were huge and at least, from what I'd seen, a couple of feet thick.

Thor punched through them like they were paper.

Loki and I trailed behind him as he marched into the hall where the feast had been on earlier. It was empty now. The remnants of the feast were still on the tables and a few stragglers hung around, sniffing at the wine glasses.

Thor seized the nearest one and shook him.

"_Where is Thrymr?_"

"In the dungeons," the guy squeaked. "With the prisoner."

Thor nodded grimly, flinging the jötunn away. The heavy pine table splintered as he hit it, but I couldn't feel much sympathy. They'd probably done worse to Sam.

Thor turned away. Then, with a frown, he turned back and picked the guy up again.

"_Where are the dungeons?_"

* * *

The jötunn's directions were accurate, probably because he didn't want Thor coming back and questioning him some more.

The dungeons were deep underground, no sun penetrating, the only light coming from the torches in the walls. I felt a stab of nervousness at the thought of Sam trapped in this place.

We heard voices. Thor spent a second waiting with his head cocked before he went in the direction of the sound. A door showed up, he smashed through it, and then we were in a big room. It was hot – horribly hot; there was a huge fire blazing in the hearth that took up the entire far wall.

And Sam was there, sitting on the floor near the door. He was shirtless and barefoot, wearing just the jeans he'd had on under his dress. And they were ragged now. His hands were pulled behind him, chained to an iron ring in the wall. His face was puffy and covered in blood, eyes swollen almost shut. They'd probably been interrogating him, trying to find out where Mjölnir was.

I clenched my fists, but I forced myself not to attack anyone. That was the reason I'd brought Thor and Loki, after all.

As they strode past me into the room, I dropped to my knees next to Sam.

Sam's lips moved. No sound came out, but I knew he was trying to say _Dean_.

"Yeah, it's me," I told him, patting his cheek gently. He winced, and I felt broken bones shift under my fingers. Crap. "Sorry, kiddo. Looks like they did a number on you." I ran a hand over his chest, and I almost threw up. Sam's ribcage was _shattered_. "I can't move you, Sammy, I'll hurt you worse. Just hold on for me. We'll get you to help."

Somewhere behind me, Thor was yelling, the giants were shrieking, and bones were being broken. I leaned over Sam, shielding him as much as I could from the sight.

It was over very quickly, and Thor and Loki were next to me, bending over Sam. Loki was clutching a necklace.

"Brísingamen," he said, in answer to my look. "Freyja will have our heads if we return without it."

"Whatever. How's Sam?"

"We must take him to Asgard," Thor announced. "Odin will heal him."

"_Asgard?_" The only place I wanted to go was _home_. "Why can't you fix him?"

"I am not a healer."

"But Loki –"

"Is not a healer either," Loki interrupted, eyes boring into me with sudden intensity. I reached down and smoothed Sam's hair, as much to calm myself as to reassure him. "Your Gabriel may have been. Loki is not. We will take him to Odin."

"But… what if he doesn't survive the journey?"

"We will be swift." Thor bent, scooping Sam up easily, ignoring his small cry of pain. He shook his head at my protest. "This is faster than if you try to carry him. You can bring the Mjölnir from your time. Come."

Thor left, but I held Loki back for a moment.

"What the hell? You _know _you can heal him. I've seen Angels heal worse."

"If it were dire, I would."

"Dire? What, did you not _see _Sammy?"

"He's hurt, Dean, but he'll live until we get to Odin." Loki hesitated, and then said, "If he gets worse before Odin can get to him, I'll heal him. But if it's not an emergency, I can't blow my cover. Nobody here knows I'm Gabriel."

"Your _cover_ –"

"He'll be fine. Let's go."

* * *

Sam _was _fine. Thor laid him down in the back of his chariot, bundled in furs. I stayed next to him, one hand on his jaw to feel his pulse. Sam was mostly out of it. Occasionally he stirred and hissed in pain, but he settled down when he realized I was there.

Thor lifted him out again when we got to Asgard. I trailed after him, still carrying the hammer, as he took Sam to an empty anteroom and lowered him to a chaise-longue. (It was a Thor-sized chaise-longue, so for Sam it was almost as good as a bed.)

"Wait here," Thor said. "I will bring the Allfather."

I sat by Sam. "Don't you dare die," I told him. "I came all the way back from Purgatory. You're notallowed to die."

Sam didn't respond, and a few minutes later Thor was back with Odin.

He wasn't wearing the floppy hat this time. He was dressed casually, with a patch covering one eye.

He waved me away from the chaise-longue so he could take my place, but he didn't make stupid objections when I went around to the other side and sat back down. That alone made him better than any doctor I'd ever seen before.

The other thing that made him better than any doctor I'd ever seen before was that he didn't waste time talking. He tilted Sam's head to the side and pressed lightly on his ribs, eliciting a soft whimper.

I patted the arm closest to me.

Sam settled down, and Odin shot me a keen glance. "You are Dean Older Brother?"

"Yeah." I was starting to get used to people calling me that. "That's me. And this is Sam Little Sister." Odin looked doubtful. I didn't explain; there were more important things to worry about. "Can you help him?"

"Of course. His injuries are severe, but not complicated. The healing process will use up much of his energy, so I expect him to be weak for a few days."

I bit back a sigh. Angel healing didn't leave weakness behind. But Gabriel wasn't helping us, and this was Sam's best chance.

"OK. Do it."

Odin gave me a look that said he'd been planning to do it anyway. He laid both palms flat on Sam's chest and murmured something under his breath. His hands glowed and Sam jerked. I patted Sam's arm again.

A moment later, Sam blinked his eyes open.

"Dean?"

His voice was exhausted, and when he tried to push himself up he gasped and fell back. He didn't look like he was in pain, so I just shook my head.

"Easy, Sammy. You've had a rough day."

"Tired."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Help me?"

"Can I sit him up?" I asked Odin.

"It will do him no harm."

"Good. Let me do the work, Sammy." I pulled him just high enough that he could use my shoulder to support his head. "OK?"

"Yeah… Thanks," he added to Odin, who shook his head.

"No thanks are needed. My son and I owe you a debt. Had you not helped Thor recover Mjölnir, the jötnar might have overrun Asgard. You showed great courage… Both of you." He got to his feet. "Thor wanted to speak to you. I will send for him."

As soon as the door had shut behind him, Sam slumped even more wearily against me.

"Hey… You OK, kiddo?"

"Really, _really _tired."

"Yeah, Odin said you would be. We don't have anything to do right now, though. Just wait for Gabriel to zap us back and stash the hammer somewhere, and then we can take a couple of days off. We're due some downtime."

"Good."

We didn't talk much after that. Sam shut his eyes and buried his head in my shoulder. I rubbed his back and hoped he'd fall asleep, because the trip back to our time would be easier on him if he wasn't conscious for it.

When Thor came in a few minutes later, though, Sam sighed and opened his eyes, though he didn't move.

"Hammer functional?" he asked.

"Mjölnir is unharmed. Thanks to you and your brother. Odin tells me you will recover."

"He's going to be fine," I said firmly. "Just needs to not be insomniac for a few days."

"I'm fine," Sam agreed, settling himself more comfortably against me. "I'm glad you got your hammer back." Thor inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Is Loki going to send us back now?"

"I am," Loki's voice said. He came into the room, nodding at us. "Unless you want to stay here a few days longer? I'm sure Odin will be happy to provide the best care for Sam."

"He may be happy to," I said bluntly, "but he can't. Sam's already got the best care."

Sam smiled up at me, sappy and dewy-eyed, and Gabriel nodded. "All right, then. It's time to go back to the twenty-first century."

* * *

We were back in the warehouse, near the runes I shouldn't have touched. Mjölnir was a heavy weight in my hand, and Sam was practically deadweight in my arms.

"Sammy?" I asked, lowering us both to the floor.

"I'm fine," Sam whispered, hoarsely and untruthfully.

"_Sam._"

Sam curled into me, and his next words were addressed to my top button. "I _will _be fine."

I nodded. I could accept that answer. "Damn straight you will."

* * *

THE END

* * *

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